SIL and I worked most of the day sorting and dividing MIL's belongings yesterday. We're only about half way through with the many knick-knacks that filled three curio cabinets and overflowed onto just about every other surface. Now, I don't need any more knick-knacks in my house, but these were especially beautiful knick-knacks, and, in my opinion, a big part of who she was.

Before her illness, everywhere we went with her, she'd fall in love with some little cute thing, a frog, a bird, a cat, an alligator, and have to have it. It was one of those simple pleasures she liked to indulge in, and we, of course, took pleasure in feeding her addiction. It's all just stuff, but there are memories attached to some of it. I wanted to make sure that each of my kids got to have a little something that they could remember her by as well as hubby and I.

That was my intent going in. I'd almost forgotten that there were not just mementos of her, but of other relatives as well in that house. Some of the these treasures had a long family history behind them, much of which is blurred, but still significant. Hubby had a once wealthy great aunt who had lived in the Philippines prior to WWII. When the Japanese invaded, they were taken to a prison camp, where, according to reports, they almost starved to death.

After the war, they brought whatever possessions they had left, which was still quite a bit, to the US, having to start all over. A few of those items have filtered down to Hubby's mom but it's hard to discern for sure which ones. We are just assuming the collectibles of most value came from her. Other items came from another great aunt who never had any kids or pets, only beautiful treasures. When she died, I know that his mom and grandma rushed in and grabbed all they wanted before other relatives could get there. Not a very stellar provenance, but that's how it was.

Due to a history in the family of fighting over dead people's leavings, we started the day agreeing that it was simply not going to be the case here, and it wasn't. If we both liked the same thing, we flipped a coin. If it was just me, I wouldn't have cared, but I know Hubby wanted a reasonable representation of what was there.

The truly prized possession were from hubby's grandparents, who were very much a part of hubby and his sister's life. In fact, virtually all of their happy childhood memories center around them. Because of that, great value is attached to even the most seemingly mundane items. Likewise, there were things of real monetary value that held no sentiment for anybody. We decided to sell those on Ebay and use the money as a slush fund for his mom.

One of the things Hubby had specifically requested was her cookware. I used to cook a LOT, so we already have cookware, but this cookware is special to him. OKaaay. I brought it all home. I'll probably get rid of much of what I already had cuz I can't see having ten frying pans and eight sauce pans. He also wanted the computer and printer back that we had given to her before she got sick. These items filled up most of my boxes.

I'm going back there again today, but for a shorter span of time. I have a half filled box of collectibles that I will ad a few more things to, and then I'll be done with small stuff. There are a few furniture items I would't mind having, but don't have to. I could see that it was hard for his sister to let things go, even to her brother. I don't want to push it cuz quite frankly I don't want to have too many precious things that I have to keep forever and ever.

When I leave, his sister will have cart blanche to do as she pleases with the rest, which may include storing it, taking it home, or leaving stuff for us to do. I'm fine with whatever. It's hard to imagine they would be done in a week, but they have two teenage boys to help carry stuff. Who knows.